From the licensing perspective Windows Server 2016 includes the usage rights for one physical installation of Windows Server 2016 Essentials or for a virtual installation of Windows Server 2016 Essentials including Hyper-V. The physical setup is done very easy by the installation wizards but the virtual setup of Essentials including Hyper-V has to be done manually. Please add an option to chose between physical and virtual setup of Essentials and extend the setup wizard to deploy the virtualized scenario of Essentials automatically. This would be great for the next version of Windows Server Essentials!

Fix the issue where after a few days the VPN will connect and then immediately disconnect on Windows Server 2016 Essentials when using a "remotewebaccess" domain. If the services for the Remote Access role are restarted the VPN connection will stay connected but will show no internet access. The whole server needs to be restarted to make the connection work properly again. Having to restart a server operating system every two to three days is not very reassuring.

The problem is explained in perfect detail at the link below. It does still happen with current Essentials 2016, and it happened in the previous version, too (2012R2).

All you need to do is use the Essentials Dashboard to add an email alias to a user in an Office 365 tenant that also has Skype for Business. Then edit that user's mailbox in EAC and look at the Email Addresses section. The new SMTP alias will be there, but the SIP entry that had been there is gone.

The problem is explained in perfect detail at the link below. It does still happen with current Essentials 2016, and it happened in the previous version, too (2012R2).

All you need to do is use the Essentials Dashboard to add an email alias to a user in an Office 365 tenant that also has Skype for Business. Then edit that user's mailbox in EAC and look at the Email Addresses section. The new SMTP alias will be there, but the SIP entry that had…

I'm facing an issue on Azure Site Recovery Integration in server 2016 Essentials(Japanese).
I can see VMs on server dashboard and click [Enable replication to Azure], sign in Azure.
But, I can't choose region of subscription.

Building on the suggestion for more flexibility in Windows Server Backup Scheduling (and added as separate suggestion to make it more visible), given that the Server Essentials SKU (and role) is aimed at simplifying SME deployments, using the Essentials Dashboard to provide a more comprehensive scheduling capability for Windows Backup (i.e. driving it through Task Scheduler) such as different sets of disks to be backed up on different days, backups on specific days, etc. as an Advanced option from the Dashboard would allow SMEs and home users to use WSE without having to consider 3rd party backups for more complex scenarios.

Building on the suggestion for more flexibility in Windows Server Backup Scheduling (and added as separate suggestion to make it more visible), given that the Server Essentials SKU (and role) is aimed at simplifying SME deployments, using the Essentials Dashboard to provide a more comprehensive scheduling capability for Windows Backup (i.e. driving it through Task Scheduler) such as different sets of disks to be backed up on different days, backups on specific days, etc. as an Advanced option from the Dashboard would allow SMEs and home users to use WSE without having to consider 3rd party backups for more complex…

When a machine is not joined to the Essentials domain, for example when on another domain or wanting to stay non-domain joined, it would be great if you could configure the connector client to either autologon with a saved password (as it was in WHS) or at least pass through the existing username/password.

When you have a single, large file that you want to restore from the Client Backups in the Essentials role, it can take a huge amount of time to restore the file to a client machine (some of which will be network). It would be much better for these situations if you could effectively "mount" a backup locally on the server to restore the files within the server and then copy them from the server back to the client - or a command line to specify the file manually to restore from the client backups. Currently trying to restore a single 450GB VM and it would have been days (and I do mean days) quicker, if I have the spare drive, to restore the whole machine and recover the file from it!

When you have a single, large file that you want to restore from the Client Backups in the Essentials role, it can take a huge amount of time to restore the file to a client machine (some of which will be network). It would be much better for these situations if you could effectively "mount" a backup locally on the server to restore the files within the server and then copy them from the server back to the client - or a command line to specify the file manually to restore from the client backups. Currently trying to restore a…

For those situations where domain membership is not appropriate (machines primarily Microsoft Account connected) or is an issue (where domain connected at work), which I agree is typically home environments rather than business, it would be really useful to allow the Launchpad to retain the password and to ensure that non-domain connected clients remain correctly logged onto the server. This was there in the original WHS and was really beneficial.

It would be really useful to offer the Client Backup on the context menu for the connector's notification icon - in addition to being able to open the Launchpad and the Dashboard from this menu. In almost all cases, the only time I access the Launchpad itself is to get to the Client Backup!

Please allow in EULA that the Windows Essentials Server can used as HYPER-V Host not only for himself, also for other HYPER-V guest. That would be an important feature small installations. Many small installation prefer a GUI on HYPER-V host.

Right now EE is not usable. The idea behind is brilliant but the implementation is crippled. From RWA to password sync, from managing Exchange and Sharepoint Online to dashboarding mailbox usage and Office 365 plans - everything is greatly appreciated, but we are missing the flexibility and the control.
Simple example: I want to announce a shared folder over RWA. Firstly it cannot be a network share from another server (well, there is a workaround rewriting the web.config). Secondly when I define a share for a user, the NTFS permissions are overwritten!
I can write tons of improvement suggestions.
Or I can improve it myself if you make the gears behind more transparent.

Right now EE is not usable. The idea behind is brilliant but the implementation is crippled. From RWA to password sync, from managing Exchange and Sharepoint Online to dashboarding mailbox usage and Office 365 plans - everything is greatly appreciated, but we are missing the flexibility and the control.
Simple example: I want to announce a shared folder over RWA. Firstly it cannot be a network share from another server (well, there is a workaround rewriting the web.config). Secondly when I define a share for a user, the NTFS permissions are overwritten!
I can write tons of improvement suggestions.
Or…